[Contribution of family doctors to health promotion among their patients].

Health promotion is a major task of family doctors. Doctors contribute to health promotion by e.g. providing information to their patients on health promoting as well as harmful behaviours. The aim of the study is to find out how frequently family doctors undertake health promoting actions among their patients and to determine a likely difference in these actions between public and non-public health care institutions. The investigations were carried out among patients of two basic health care institutions, public and non-public, in Białystok. Of all patients aged 18 and over being under care of family doctors, 1000 people were drawn (500 from each institution). Mail questionnaire technique was employed. Of 579 returned questionnaires, 560 were used for analysis. The analysis included situations the patients encountered at the family doctor's. Responding to the question whether during a visit the family doctor referred to tobacco smoking, mode of nutrition, physical activity, harmful effects of alcohol abuse and the way of coping with stress, the patients declared that a given situation occurred "always", "frequently", seldom" and "never". Family doctors most frequently discussed the problem of nutrition and physical activity, while alcohol drinking and tobacco smoking were most seldom touched upon. No significant difference was found in the frequency of health promoting actions between family doctors in public and non-public institutions of health care.